Check ID: policy_ensure_asc_enforcement_enabled
Provider: Azure
Service: policy
Severity: MEDIUM
Resource type: microsoft.authorization/policyassignments

What this check verifies

Defender for Cloud default policy assignment (SecurityCenterBuiltIn) uses enforcement mode Default rather than DoNotEnforce

Risk

With DoNotEnforce, policy effects like deny and deployIfNotExists aren’t applied, letting insecure configs persist. This erodes confidentiality and integrity (exposed endpoints, weak encryption) and can affect availability via unpatched or misconfigured services, enabling compromise and lateral movement.

Recommendation

Keep enforcement mode Default on the default initiative and avoid disabling critical effects. Apply at scale for consistent governance, align with least privilege and defense in depth, validate changes in Audit in non-prod, and manage justified exceptions via time-bound policy exemptions instead of turning enforcement off.

Remediation

az policy assignment update —name SecurityCenterBuiltIn —scope /subscriptions/<SUBSCRIPTION_ID> —enforcement-mode Default

References

Where this check fires

This check runs on every scheduled scan against your Azure account. Findings appear at Cloud Security → Findings filterable by Check ID = policy_ensure_asc_enforcement_enabled. To re-evaluate after a fix, hit Run now on the account’s schedule under Cloud Security → Schedules — the next scan re-checks this control and marks the finding fixed or keeps it persistent.
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